Communications switch and router systems need to provide a low failure rate for communication routing and transmission. Many systems use an architecture which provides redundant communication capabilities to switch away from failures when they occur. A common reliability measure is whether or not the system provides six 9's reliability, i.e. is available 99.9999% of a given time period. This requires rapid fault detection and correction.
Redundant fabric links in a network element provide a pair of redundant datapaths through the network element. Switching from the active fabric link to the redundant fabric link in the network element provides the same data to the destination. Redundant fabric links may require a specific configuration to provide this redundancy in the network element. Additionally, fabric links in the network element may have many components. Maintaining the fabric links in the network element provides challenges to the operator in isolating and detecting faults in a timely manner.
There is a need for a system and method for providing management of fabric links for a network element.